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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Okay, today I'm going to wrap up how to direct message people who have joined a group that you are also a member of. This presupposes a few things (covered in past posts)

You've updated your profile to make it look good

You've worked on your headline and short blurb

You've participated (in a friendly - not look at me look at me) way on the forum so you don't look like a drive buy shooter.

You have a place for people to read samples (preferably your website - so you can get them to it as well.

You have some nice covers and an image that you can put in the message (i.e. the images is on the internet somewhere such that you can get a URL link to it.

As I mentioned in Part 3 I have different messages in a file that I copy/paste from. Now...even though you are copy/pasting you still want to make it personal. At a minimum you should start by typing: Hey person's name, before the paste. But I like to go further and if possible mention something they said in their welcome post - usually they'll mention some authors they like so you can either a) agree that xyz is one of your favorites or b) say I've never tried xyz thanks for letting me know I'll check them out. Other topics that are could to use is comments on nice Avatars, or if they live somewhere you've always wanted to visit (my hot spot is Australia / New Zealand) you can work that in to.

The next important thing...don't sound needy...or desperate...don't beg...don't whimper. Here is what you have to think of as you are crafting your message. You are on a reader site. These people WANT to find new authors to fall in love with. Your attitude should be one of confidence (but not arrogance). You are here to help them. If you've come from the "query world" think about how you would approach an agent to look at your work.

Okay...so you are in the "welcome thread" you see someone introducing themselves - Click on their picture. Then click on "compare books" to see if they have any of your books on their shelves. You'll see one of 4 things:

No books - this will happen a lot in the beginning.

Books - unread (now's your chance to get them to "move it up on their TBR pile)

Books - read and rated (Respond to anyone with a 3 or better) 1's and 2's you can just move on - or try an advanced technique that I'll cover another day

Books - read, rated, and reviewed (3 or better)

NO BOOKSA typical post I suggest for someone with no books on the shelf:

Hey Susan,I saw your post in the fantasy group. It's always good to meet people who like reading fantasy! I'm glad you like Rothfuss, I've really enjoyed the first two books. I'm also an author, but don't worry I'm not here to pressure you to buy my books. I just wanted to introduce them and you can decide for yourself if you are interested in finding out more.RIYRIA REVELATIONS: Unlikely Heroes...Classic AdventureThere's no ancient evil to destroy or orphan destined for greatness, just two thieves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a cynical thief, and his ex-mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a living performing dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they are framed for the murder of the king.

I've been very happy with the reception the series has received here on goodreads (2300+ ratings and 500+ reviews) and, if you do get a chance to "check them out", I would love to know what you think...good, bad, or indifferent any and all feedback is welcome (much preferable to the crickets chirp).

Well I've rambled enough. Again, welcome to the group - it's a great place to find new things to read.

Some form of "validation" - The idea here is to give people a reason to believe you are "worth their time.

Invitation for them to reach out to you - VERY important remember you want to make connections - make it two-way.

Closing bringing it back to your welcome

Signature that has links to your books in it. (I used the "no cover" version as the graphics are already in the message.

UNREAD BOOKGoodreads people have HUGE TBR piles. But they are usually easily swayed by interaction to move your book up on the list - especially when in competition with some "big guy" that will never have that "personal touch" with them. Use this to your advantage.

Hey Susan,I saw your post in the fantasy group. It's always good to meet people who like reading fantasy! I'm glad you like Rothfuss, I've really enjoyed the first two books. I hope you don't mind but I took a peek on your shelves and was happy to find out you already have my book listed--how cool is that! I'm not here to pressure you to buy my books (that's just not my style). I just wanted to thank you for your interest and to give you a link where you can read a sample.

If you're like me your TBR is large (and growing all the time but that's a good thing about goodreads) so here's a bit about my book as a reminder:

RIYRIA REVELATIONS: Unlikely Heroes...Classic AdventureThere's no ancient evil to destroy or orphan destined for greatness, just two thieves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a cynical thief, and his ex-mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a living performing dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they are framed for the murder of the king.

Well I've rambled enough if you do get a chance to "check them out", I would love to know what you think...good, bad, or indifferent any and all feedback is welcome (much preferable to the crickets chirp). Again, thanks for the interest in my book and welcome to the group - it's a great place to find new things to read.

Michael[bookcover:Theft of Swords|10790290] [bookcover:Rise of Empire|11773712] [bookcover:Heir of Novron|11100431] [bookcover:The Viscount and the Witch|12746970]

READ BOOK - RATING BUT NO REVIEWYou've found someone you want to keep a hold of and get a direct connection with them. I would send them a message and immediately after do a "friend request" and in the message of the friend request say something like:I'm so glad you read and liked my book, Theft of Swords.

If they friend you back (which they usually will) you'll have their email address (if they have made it public) - PURE GOLD. Respond back when you see the "friend accepted" notice and ask them if you could add them to your email distribution list to notify them of upcoming releases or giveaways. Again they'll usually say yes - now you have a way to connect them and as long as you keep writing well, they'll buy each time you come out with a new book. -- Plus you can get them to buy direct from you where you get to keep most of the profit. Okay this whole email and direct buying is a whole post in and of itself, which we'll cover more later but getting back to the intro email: Here's how I word it:

Hey Susan,I saw your post in the fantasy group. It's always good to meet people who like reading fantasy! I'm glad you like Rothfuss, I've really enjoyed the first two books. I hope you don't mind but I took a peek on your shelves and was happy to find that you read my book, Theft of Swords--how cool is that!

I'm dying for a little detail about your impressions. Would you mind adding a little review to your rating to let me know what you thought? It doesn't have to be a full blown review just a few sentences would be great. And feel free to tell me the good and the bad (this business makes tough skins and all I ask if is honest feedback). Writing can be such solitary work sometimes so hearing from people is what I live for. If you are uncomfortable doing this publicly, then just send me a message.

Well I've rambled enough. Again, thanks for the interest in my book and welcome to the group - it's a great place to find new things to read.

Michael[bookcover:Theft of Swords|10790290] [bookcover:Rise of Empire|11773712] [bookcover:Heir of Novron|11100431] [bookcover:The Viscount and the Witch|12746970]

P.S. As you can see from my signature I've written some other books as well. If you would like to learn more about any of them and/or read a sample you can from here.

I think about goodreads as levels. First you want them to shelve you, then read, then rate, and finally review. The more reviews you have the more credibility you'll get so this is a way to turn a rate into a review. Not to mention...many readers will be so thrilled that an author took time to reach out to them that they'll talk about you with their other goodreads friends = word of mouth which is the end game.

The P.S. at the bottom is optional of course depending on whether they know (as evidence by their shelf) you can personalize this a bit as well. Such as...I saw that you read the first two books in the Riyria Revelations did you know I've released another 3? You can find out more..blah blah blah.

READ BOOK - RATING AND REVIEWOkay this is the mother load. You don't have to sell this person anything. What you need to do is make a good impression on them and hope to turn them into a word-of-mouth generating machine. This is a time to express gratitude and let them get to know you a bit.

Goodreads has an ability for people to post on other's reviews so the first thing you should do is go out and thank them for the review. Also, just as before be sure to send them a friend request after you send the intro email.

Hey Susan,I saw your post in the fantasy group. It's always good to meet people who like reading fantasy! I'm glad you like Rothfuss, I've really enjoyed the first two books. I hope you don't mind but I took a peek on your shelves and was happy to find that you reviewed my book, Theft of Swords.

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this. It's difficult sometimes when you are like me and just starting out and no one knows who I am, so by providing some independent feedback, others will be more likely to take a chance.

Writing is not something I do for the money...I do it because I can't stop the stories from filling my head and sharing them with others is how I get rewarded. I don't know if readers really know just how much of a kick we get out of reading reviews. It makes the long nights worth it and can take the sting off of the inevitable bad review.

Well I've rambled enough. Again, thank you for letting me know that my writing is not going out to a vacuum. I'm glad you've found he group - it's a great place to find new things to read.

Michael[bookcover:Theft of Swords|10790290] [bookcover:Rise of Empire|11773712] [bookcover:Heir of Novron|11100431] [bookcover:The Viscount and the Witch|12746970]

P.S. If you'd like to be added to my email distribution list to be notified of future releases and/or giveaways please send me your email.

Something I should note about all of these messages. My goal is to turn these people from a casual reader into a fan - and the way you know you've done this is that they have provided you their email (for future notifications) and by having ongoing dialogs with them (both personally and through the group). Again I'll discuss this more in future posts - we've already covered a lot today.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Okay, so I'm sorry to be so harsh in my intro but I get angry when I see author's setting themselves up to fail. I just ran into two people on facebook and neither of them were in any of the main distribution networks. How is this possible? I know (or hope) that most people here already know all that I'm about to tell them. But in case there are a few people here that are just getting started please listen up.

The first guy mentioned "I just hired a publicist for my book xyz just the latest attempt in getting my writing noticed." My first thought was...did this guy just attempt to run before walking...So I went to Amazon with an intent to find what his ranking was...and it wasn't there. Nor was it on B&N! Further research showed in ONLY available on LuLu and for $17.99. Really? Seriously? So you've spent money to HIRE a publicist and your books aren't even available for purchase (lulu is not enough) and your price is WAY TO HIGH!!

The second guy announced "I've finally taken the plunge and released an ebook". Again I went out to the usual suspects and nothing...so I wrote to him (Maybe my search wasn't very good). "Are you on Amazon, B&N, ibookstore?" His response ... "Should be; I know Smashwords distributes to Amazon, B&N, Sony and Apple, among others." My thougths...So you're making an announcement before you have verified live links? UGHH!! Work with me people.

Okay rant over lets get some real information going.

#1 - If you do nothing else put a kindle version of your book up. It is free. Formatting takes just a little bit of time to learn and if you're not here - you're not really publishing your work. If you don't know how to format...there are many books on this (some free some $0.99 - $2.99) It really is not rocket science.

#2 - Once you have the kindle formatted use Calibre (free software) and make an .epub from it. Post it to B&N using PubIt...Also free and easy to do.

#3 - Open your kindle version in a browser (it is essentially just .html which is read by browsers and copy paste into word (don't use your original word file -as it will have lots of "overhead" you don't want or need for it's own formatting. Then follow the layout guidelines at Smashwords to format it the way their "meat grinder' wants it.

#4 - Post to Smashwords and go to their distribution area and turn off: Kindle, B&N (since you'll do direct) and turn on ibookstore, kobo, diesel, etc.

#5 - Watch your smashwords to see if it gets kicked out by their meatgrinder - if so make the changes they recommend then resubmit.

#6 - Wait until you see links available for your books at Kindle & B&N and then...you can announce to people.

Okay I'm back to work on other things. I plan to continue the "Goodreads thing" tomorrow. This just got me hot enough under the collar that I had to post.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Welcome back to this third installment on Goodreads. You'll notice that it is now 201 instead of 101 because we're graduating to more advanced techniques. If you've not read the other two posts in this series you need to as it will get you setup before you take this next step.

So you have your profile setup, you've found some groups that are specific to your genre now it's time to start interacting. Almost every group has an "introduce yourself post". Read the guidelines of the post carefully then...well...introduce yourself. Some frown upon writers putting links to their books in their introductions so make sure you know the rules. Personally, I think your introduction should only "graze" the fact that you write - as you'll see as we go on there will be plenty of other opportunities to discuss that. So I usually recommend a recommendation such as this:

Hello my name is Michael, and I've been a fan of fantasy since I first read The Hobbit at age 12. Prior to that I had little interest in reading and it opened up a whole new world for me that I'm forever grateful for. I'm also a writer, I was originally self-published but recently was picked up by a big-six publisher (Orbit, the fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group). I'm really glad I found this group and I'm looking forward to finding a ton of new books to add to my tbr pile.

If the group allows for links I'll make a signature like this (the text has links to the books):Michael: Theft of Swords | Rise of Empire | Heir of Novron | The Viscount and the Witch

If they don't mind graphics (some will some wont then I make the signature two lines with my name on the first and the small thumbnails on the next line separated with a single space.

Now that you have officially announced yourself to the group its time for....well participation. And if you start by saying "buy my book, buy my book" in every interaction you have, I'm gonna have to slap you up the side of your head!! This is the biggest way to ruin what can be a valuable resource for you. If you haven't read my past threads on participation in social networks please do so now!

Okay, so how should you interact. Go out to the threads - make some comments. (We'll cover starting threads another day, you'll have enough to do just by responding to others) Again - don't mention your books strongly. You can hint about your writing for instance a post about the "size of fantasy novels" I might have Michael respond like this:

I know many fantasy reader love big, thick books. For whatever reason it seems like every time I sit down to write, they always come out to be about 100,000 words, which is 300 pages and relatively short by fantasy standards. My new publisher has released my six-book Riyria Revelations series as a trilogy so now each "book" has two of my stories and that puts them in the 600 - 900 page range!! I guess I get the best of both worlds.

Notice the subtly. The post is:

On point - and contributes to the topic at hand

Mentions the title of Michael's series but no "buy me buy me"

Let's those that read short works know he might be interesting to them, and those that read long works that they'll "get their moneys worth.

If you just joined the group. I suggest you only respond to 3 - 4 posts on the first day. Then visit back on a regular basis and participate more. This will "spread out" your posts - many people subscribe to groups as a digest feed and if you have 20 posts all to the same group in the same period of time you'll look like a spammer. The secret is a continual flow of interactions sprinkled here and there.

Now...for the big step....Sending direct messages to people in the group. This is where you can either totally blow it or be very successful. It's all in the approach. Here is my recommendations.

Start by sending introductions to people who just joined the group. I check the "introduction" post on a regular basis and send a direct (and private message) to people as they join. The process I go through is this:

Click on their picture to get to their profile

Do a "compare books" to see if they have any of your books on their shelves

If they told you a bit about themselves in their intro post - be prepared to use it. If not check out their profile to see some tidbit.

Okay so here goes I have 4 "welcome to the group" messages in a file that I've given Michael. They are:

No books on the shelf

Books on the shelf but not read

Books on the shelf and read and reviewed

Books on the shelf read and rated

I'll share the "content" of each of these in the next installment but you'll find they have the same things in common.

Starts with using their name: Hey Susan, blah blah blah

Welcome them to the group

Mention something personal about them. (Can comment on their avatar, a shared favorite author, a comment on where they live -- Oh I've always wanted to visit Australia, etc)

Tell them you're a writer but not going to "pressure them to buy"

Thank them if they already know about the books, introduce them if they have not

Provide a link where they can read samples

Tell them you're looking forward to seeing them "around the group

I suggest you write your four separate intros before the next post (probably will be a few days as I'm swamped with some stuff). Then we can compare/contrast between yours and mine.

Friday, October 14, 2011

There are many opportunities on goodreads to tell people about your book. The most common is an "authors promotion folder" they exists in just about every group and this is an open invitation to tell others about what you've written. Other possibilities are threads to announce book signing, new releases, etc.

I cringe when I see how poorly these are executed by most writers. They usually look something like this:

Hey guys I have a just finished a book called Me and Rover and I'd love for you to check it out. It's about a boy and his dog and the adventures they go on. Thanks!

What a wasted opportunity!! Here are some pointers for your post:

Subject of post : Title of book/series and your short (4 word tagline

Make it easy on them. For god's sake your post MUST have goodreads links to your book/books and to your author page. More about this in a minute.

Have covers of your book

Tell them about your book - make it "just right" not too long or too short

Samples - every post should have a place where they can read samples of your work

Establish credibility

SUBJECTSome groups have a folder where an author has a post per book/series etc. As mentioned above this has to have your title (book or series) and your VERY SHORT tagline. This way even if people don't click into the link, you at least had an impression. I see so many people's posts that say something like: New fantasy adventure or my latest book. Here are some examples I've used:

Basic - The Riyria Revelations: Unlikely Heroes...Classic Adventure

Freebie - The Viscount and the Witch: FREE Riyria Short Story

Announcement: The Heir of Novron: Named #2 Most Anticipated Release of Q1 2012 by Fantasy Book Critic

NOTE: Sometimes you don't get a "post just for you" in which case this becomes the "headline" before you describe your book/series. But if you are allowed a post all to yourself you need to get the name out there and an enticement.

GOODREAD LINKSEvery book and every author has a goodreads link that looks something like this:

[author:Michael J. Sullivan|2063919]

[book:Heir of Novron|11100431] or [bookcover:Heir of Novron|11100431]

I keep a separate file with these links in them for quick reference when I'm creating a post. How do you find the link specific to you? It's easy...Just start a message, and just above the body of the message you'll see a link to "add book author" Use that to do a search to find your books then copy/paste the results into a file for future use. NOTE: if you use [book: it will put just the title of your book with a link (good for in-line discussion) If you use [bookcover: it will put a small thumbnail of your book.

COVERSJust having a picture of your books really elevates your product listing. I suggest if you have a series you put all of them in single image (Maximum width = 430). Don't forget to link these to a meaninful page (either your author page on goodreads or your "book" page on your website.) Also don't forget to use bitly so you know how many times the image is seen.

BOOK DESCRIPTIONAs in the above example, the person didn't say enough. But more often than not people ramble on longer than they should. You need ONE paragaraph of hopefully no more than 200 words. If you have multiple books in a series, then have one "overview" paragraph for the series and one paragraph for each book.

CREDIBILITYThis section should be updated frequently as you gain more and more credentials. In the beginning it may just be some quotes of others (bloggers or readers). If you get awards or high acclaim then add them in as well. If you start to get some serious numbers on Amazon or goodreads - use those. Basically what you use this section for is to give people a reason to "trust" that your books are worth looking at. Make sure that if you are using a quote provide a links so they can "see for themselves.

Okay, now each situation is going to be different but let's look at the post I use for Michael's books:

Hello all, I'm Michel J. Sullivan and I want to thank you for the opportunity to tell you a bit about my books. For those that don't know the original books in the Riyria Revelations are now out of print as the series is being re-released by Orbit (Fantasy Imprint of #2 Publisher Hachette Book Group).

RIYRIA REVELATIONS: Unlikely Heroes...Classic AdventureThere's no orphan destined for greatness or ancient evil to destroy…just two rogues in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a cynical thief, and his ex-mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living performing dangerous assignments for petty nobles…until a simple job to steal a sword finds them framed for the murder of the king. And so begins this simple tale that uncovers a conspiracy far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.

I wrote all six books before releasing the first, and five of them were published by a small imprint run by my wife. They did well...I sold 70,000+ copies, and have 2300+ ratings and 500+ reviews here on goodreads. Now, they are being re-released as a trilogy in 3 consecutive months: Nov, Dec, and Jan. The "older" books that you might be more familiar with are here:

REVIEWS"Filled with adventure and clever dialog and featuring a pair of not-quite-heroes whose loyalties to each other provide them with their greatest strength, this epic fantasy showcases the arrival of a master storyteller." -- Library Journal

"Wintertide (A++) is the second top-rated combo (with The Emerald Storm) of 2010 for me and establish the series as one of the best traditional epic fantasies currently being published and a top 10 novel of mine." — Fantasy Book Critic

Please consider adding one (or all) of the following to your shelves and let me know what you think of them, good, bad, or indifferent all I ask is for honest opinions....thanks!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let's look at this post and why I did what I did:

You need at least a two-line introduction to your post (as you're picture will be to the left of it and it is good to use your name AND a link to your goodreads author profile.

Series name and headline followed by a SHORT description (168 words)

Covers of the book that goes to Michael's book blog page

The next paragraph/set of pictures is specfic for Mihael's situation. You of course wouldn't have this. The reason I have it in here is most people on Goodreads are already familiar with these books. Also Michael has a LOT of reviews and book sold. I say once you get above 5,000 books you can start bragging with that and 500+ ratings and 100+ reviews are worth mentioning

A button that takes them to a page to read samples. I'll talk more about how to "construct" this page in the future but this is essential.

Reviews to establish - third party validation notice I'm using the "big names" in the industry and the genre.

Closing: Quick access to GOODREADS links to his author page and the books. This makes it easy for them to add them to their shelves.

This was not developed "overnight" It took me years of experimentation to get it "just right" and as your writing career expands you'll have to update these postings. Again I suggest having a separate file with all your "author links" so that each time one needs updating you can copy/paste to all the others.